Class Recaps: Virtual Classes Well-Attended, In-Person Courses in the Works

The Winter/Spring Virtual Classroom Series was full of quality programming. These free courses bring together some of our industry’s most engaging professionals to discuss some of the hottest topics in our industry. Here’s a snapshot of just a few of the most recently held well-attended classes.

Lunch & Learn / Deep Dive: Pivot Reports

Excel continues to be the most popular Lunch & Learn session offered. Instructed by Ginnie Floraday, this Deep Dive session focused on creating Pivot tables. These tables allow the user to extract important information from complex data sets by arranging them in a way that makes them easy to analyze and summarize. More than 32 members and support staff of Local 73 attended the fun and informative session.

“This is my second time through a Pivot course,” one participant said. “The first time I had never seen a Pivot table before and it was overwhelming. Now, it’s much easier to navigate with great instruction!” “Ginnie is a very good teacher, doesn’t go too fast and leaves room for questions,” another participant said.

The Art of Virtual Networking

Networking is hard enough in person, so trying to connect in a virtual world can be even more difficult. That’s why we recruited the help of Debra Zabloudil, president and founder of Learning Studio, to give members the best chance of improving visibility in the industry through virtual networking. She gave some great examples of online networking vs. in-person, and helped participants understand how to nurture existing relationships while growing new relationships.

Super Tech Tools to get Stuff Done

Beth Ziesesis of Your Nerdy Best Friend was such an engaging and dynamic virtual speaker that we plan to have her back for more in-person classes! Beth went all out to be very interactive and presented her session like a gameshow. She ran “polls” and shared a number of cool nerdy resources, like low-cost, high-value apps and tech tools members can start using right away to increase efficiency and improve relationships.

Download her presentation here: https://bit.ly/2OG6uaG

Inequitable Payment Practices

Stephane McShane of Maxim Consulting Group is another well- respected industry insider and fantastic speaker. Her presentation gave insight into the various risks of specialty contractors, like payment practices that have a significant impact on the ability to remain financially solid and/or acquire new work. She also identified mitigation strategies to address inequitable payment practices and protect the interests of specialty contractors.

We’re currently working on a summer/fall education schedule. Stay tuned for details as they become available!